With so many options available, the Distressor can take some time to get to grips with, and the presets supplied by celebrity engineers Chris Coady, Chris Zane, Hector Delgado, Jacquire King, Jimmy Douglass, Joe Chiccarelli, Mike Larson and Vance Powell do a good job of showing off the unit’s capabilities. UA have also added a master wet/dry control that allows their Distressor to perform parallel compression. As on the hardware Distressor, you can cycle through ratio and other settings by repeatedly clicking the relevant buttons, but you can also just click directly onto their respective LEDs to skip straight to the setting you want. UA’s emulated Distressor sensibly reformats the original’s 1U front panel in two rows, in a plug-in window that’s much larger than some of the older UA plug-ins. And in case you’re wondering why it would ever be useful to set a compressor to a 1:1 ratio, which won’t actually compress anything, the answer lies in the Distressor’s Dist 2 and 3 settings, which add different flavours of saturation to the input signal. Just as significant in terms of the Distressor’s versatility are the High-Pass and Band Emphasis buttons, which apply different EQ settings within the side-chain, prompting the response to be more weighted towards energy in the mid-range. Each setting has its own knee characteristic, with the 10:1 mode designed to emulate the behaviour of an optical gain-control cell such as is found in the LA-2A. These run from 1:1 all the way to ‘Nuke’, its own take on the 1176’s apocalyptic all-buttons-in audio destruction mode.
However, whereas the 1176 and LA-2A are both relatively basic in terms of features, the Distressor positively bristles with options, and could be seen with some justification as several compressors in one.įor one thing, it offers no fewer than eight ratio settings. Like the 1176, the hardware Distressor is also capable of incredibly fast attack times. To compress the signal harder, you increase the input gain, then back off the output gain if needs be to compensate for any overall level increase.
#UAD DISTRESSOR SOFTWARE#
Not only is UA’s plug-in the only officially licensed software version, but their engineers apparently studied no fewer than four hardware originals.ĭesign-wise, one thing the Distressor has in common with both the 1176 and the LA-2A is a fixed threshold. And, as usual, UA have gone the extra mile in recreating it. The Nuclear OptionĪlong with the UREI 1176 and the Teletronix LA-2A, the Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor is a compressor you expect to find almost as a matter of course in any high-end control room. However, UA themselves say that there is one missing unit for which their users have been clamouring, and it’s that product that is the highlight of the latest UAD 9.4 software release. Universal Audio’s Powered Plug-ins range is now so comprehensive that it can be quite a challenge to think of classic hardware which hasn’t yet been modelled. Older analog tape, vinyl records and tube equipment on the other hand, could not be prevented from coloring the sound, often to the frustration of recording engineers.The 9.4 software release sees Universal Audio add a modern classic to their plug-in range. This "warmth" or vintage sound has become an important issue in the last 15 years, as the super clear and linear digital technology does very little (or nothing) to soften "harsh" sounds nor emphasize the bass frequencies in music sources.
Besides offering a wide range of control and unique features, the Distressor offers a warm, vintage sound by using a custom designed gain control circuit. Years of beta testing and redesign went into the Distressor as will be the case with all Empirical Labs products. Unlike most analog compressor/limiters the Distressor is a digitally controlled audio device and actually incorporates several products into one by utilizing digital controls to switch totally different circuits in and out.
#UAD DISTRESSOR MOVIE#
Its most probable uses will be in recording studios, live sound situations, movie sound production, and radio broadcast production.
This type of device is often called a "limiter" or "compressor" by audio industry people. Basically, it electronically controls the volume of just about any source in a very pleasing, and "musical" manner - adding fullness, intelligibility, and especially in the Distressor's case - excitement.
#UAD DISTRESSOR PRO#
The Empirical Labs Distressor is an automatic gain (or volume) control device (AGC in engineering terms) designed for pro audio (music) applications. In Distort 3 mode the distortion becomes dominated by 3rd harmonic (similar to tape). Emphasized tube-like 2nd harmonic in clean and Distort 2 mode. Three audio modes provide user programmable, warm harmonic distortion.